Three Key Points Start-ups Should Consider To Move Forward

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The start-up ecosystem is fairly at its bud stage in India and needs to learn from its global counterparts. International tie-ups are a great way to harness global learning in the Big Data for Indian industries. It also provides an excellent opportunity for start-ups to connect with mentors, entrepreneurs and investors on a global level.

This first such connection happened in India when early-stage venture capital fund Blume Ventures tied up with Draper Venture Network, a global umbrella organization of various venture capital firms, to open up funding and networking opportunities for funds’ portfolio companies.

In a second such partnership, Gurgaon-based India Accelerator acquired membership of the Global Accelerator Network (GAN), a consortium of 70 leading accelerators in the world that includes H-Farm in Italy, NXTP Labs in Argentina, SparkLabs in South Korea and Techstars in the US.

The Entrepreneur India got in touch with Ashish Bhatia, managing director at India Accelerator to learn about the efficacy of global partnerships in start-up eco-system and also about the challenges faced by new businesses.

Global Partnership Will Benefit Indian Start-up Ecosystem

Bhatia said the partnership would empower Indian entrepreneurs to go global from the very beginning. The support will help convert local solutions into globally scalable business models as GAN produces best practices in documentation and curates accelerated data. The data, in turn, provides a holistic overview of the industry and forecasts evolving trends.

“GAN members and their founders have exclusive access to discounts and upgrades from more than 50 top providers. These perks amount to nearly $1million in savings for the start-ups. The partnership will provide an exclusive resource for members to access quality start-ups through GAN communications. We can match GAN companies with interested investors. Besides, the GAN has access to some of the world’s most experienced start-up mentors, which will be a boon for Indian fledgling businesses,” shared Bhatia, a serial entrepreneur, who has cofounded companies like AppWorks, OrganIQ and eGamersArena.

Problem Exists At Both Ends Of The Scale

“Our start-up ecosystem is still at a very nascent stage. Seed funding is a major concern. In fact, there is problem at both ends of the scale,” notified Bhatia. She has launched an incubation programme this month to offer early-stage technology start-ups benefits from the partnership.

He believes that there is a tendency for many investors to have a short-term mindset and also a herd-mentality of investing in ‘hot’ areas, and thus missing out on larger, longer-term opportunities. “It is changing but big boys of Indian industry have to get involved. You hardly see any decent participation by corporations in encouraging this ecosystem. Organizations need to connect their strength and resources with external innovation to drive growth,” he added.

Sectors Which Indian Start-ups Should Explore More

“Media tends to over-promote ‘hot’ business opportunities and founders. E-commerce, food delivery, hyper-local, travel are a few sectors beaten to death as they do not go with the trend or the hype.

There are so many genuine opportunities out there to explore in a country like ours and common sense dictates that start-ups should focus on challenges faced by citizens and society,” said Bhatia.

AI, Fintech, VR, Cyber Security, Wallets, IoT are some the sectors that according to Bhatia will see plenty of action. “Whatever the sector might be, try to find a white space. If there is a problem to be solved, it is a good beginning. Also there is a temptation to show how can it scale massively and be the next unicorn. Start small and show there can be a paying customer for your offering. Scalability is a relatively easier problem to solve, survivability isn’t,” he warned.